By Cabela’s standards, you might think it’s a mini-mart. But it doesn’t feel that way.

Cabela’s newest Minnesota store, which will open at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 15, takes up 96,000 square feet at the southwest corner of Interstate 94 and Radio Drive in Woodbury. Compared to its 180,000-square-foot store in Rogers, or its similarly massive store in Owatonna, the Woodbury location seems puny for the retailer of all things outdoors.

But entering the space, shoppers will be confronted by what amounts to a Great Hall of Taxidermy and Wares framing the retailer’s signature “mountain” featuring all manner of wildlife. It feels every bit as expansive as the other stores.

And, Cabela’s officials say, nothing is lost in the smaller store.

How can that be?

“We still want to make the same impact,” store manager Shelby Rockford said during a recent preview for the Pioneer Press. “We believe we can still get the same amount of product and the same retail square footage.”

Under its new “next-generation” design, the Woodbury Cabela’s has 85,000 square feet of strictly defined retail space, which is comparable to the larger stores. Absent are some of the “museum” aspects, such as the display of mounted African animals. Also absent are a walk-through aquarium and a children’s laser shooting range.

Many features of the larger stores remain but eat up fewer acres in the Woodbury store, which is one level. The deli and fudge shops are combined, with no actual grill and far fewer seats than the restaurants of larger stores. The Fly Shop is demarcated not by walls but a simple change in the flooring. The Gift Center offers the same merchandise, but with no cabin-esque man-cave displays to demonstrate furniture and accessories.

But the Gun Library (where firearms enthusiasts window-shop) and the Bargain Cave (where pennywise purchasers scrounge) remain. One new offering is a dedicated counter for in-store pickup of items purchased online. The store will offer a Powersports Shop, essentially a boat/ATV dealership inside the store, as well as its line of tractors and attachments under its Wildlife and Land Management line.

Many of the 200-plus wildlife mounts are raised well overhead, a decision that saves floor space and also draws one’s gaze toward the mountain. The mountain is nearly nestled up against the back of the store, which overlooks — literally, for many of the stuffed animals — I-94 through floor-to-ceiling windows. The plumbing system for the mountain’s waterfall does double duty: Inside the bowels of the mountain is where the store will keep its live bait tanks.

“We still know people are going to spend a tremendous amount of time in the store,” retail marketing manager Danny Thompson said. “But we know for many of our customers it won’t be the same as a trip to Rogers or Owatonna, which you really needed to schedule an entire day to visit.”

The Woodbury store will be the fourth Minnesota location for the Nebraska-based chain, which operates in Rogers, Owatonna and East Grand Forks, in addition to Prairie du Chien, Wis. (A Woodbury-sized store is planned for Madison, Wis., as well.)

The new location puts Minnesota alongside Texas as the only state with four stores, and one reading of that is a nod to both the state’s rabid demand for outdoors goods, as well as the economy of the east metro and western Wisconsin.

“Yes, this store will pull some traffic from our other stores, but we’ve done our research, and there’s such a huge demand here that we think the stores will complement each other,” Thompson said.

What may not be complimentary is Cabela’s presence squarely in the backyard of its competitor,

St. Paul-based Gander Mountain. Gander has 12 Minnesota stores, including one at I-94 and Woodbury Road, one exit east of the Cabela’s.

Dave Orrick reports on state government and politics from the Pioneer Press' Capitol Bureau. When the occasion demands, he's been known to cover topics ranging from hunting to golf. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.

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